To hear his friends and readers tell it, an American war correspondent based in Saigon is losing touch with reality. But to him, the opposite is true. Through studies of the Vietnamese people and fantastical letters to his children, he alternately tries to confront and embrace the world as it truly is.

A Vietnamese-Australian writer at the Iowa Writer’s Workshop receives a visit from his estranged father. With his final story due in a few days, he looks to his father’s life for inspiration.

A veteran tells his acquaintance about his darkest memories as a solider the Vietnam War.

Speaking of his past experiences, a Vietnam War veteran describes the darker, unspoken details of life as a soldier that people often overlook.

A lieutenant leads his platoon of men through Vietnam but can't stop thinking about his girl back home. His distraction leads to dire consequences for both his soldiers and his love life.

After killing a lost American soldier, a Vietnamese man discovers similarities between the two of them and struggles to come to terms with his hasty decision.

A teenage son discreetly researches the Vietnam War, desperate for information about what his father may have experienced during his seventeen years in the Marine Corps.

A Vietnamese near-centenarian living in New Orleans reminisces on wars he experienced, ideas he held, and countries he saw during the 20th century with the help of the ghost of an old friend: Ho Chi Minh.

A group of Marines recall their horrifying memories of fighting on the Pacific front of World War II, while a journalist attempts to glorify their experiences for his readers.

A Confederate officer begrudgingly fights in the American Civil War until his disastrous last battle helps seal the fate of the war for good. After the war, he constantly repents for his critical mistakes until, decades later, he comes to a shocking revelation about the fateful battle.